"What I remember most is his smile. ... Can you put that into words?" Zack Schiller, CC '01, said about his close friend and former classmate Tyler Ugolyn.

His pleasant company and trademark smile are two of the things that Ugolyn's close friends remember most about the good-looking young man with an endearing personality and optimistic outlook.

Ugolyn, 23, worked at Fred Alger Management, a major investment management firm in the World Trade Center, following his college graduation.

At Columbia he was a student-athlete, playing both guard and forward for the basketball team during his first two years. He had been recruited by basketball Head Coach Armond Hill out of Ridgefield High School in Connecticut. A 6'4'' high school basketball star, Ugolyn was ranked among the top 250 recruits in the nation, was nominated to the 1997 McDonald's High School All-American Team, and received Honorable Mention recognition from the Addidas Blue Ribbon Handbook heading into his tenure at Morningside Heights.

But Ugolyn played just two seasons for the Lions before choosing to pursue other goals. Among his new initiatives, he joined friends and teammates Gary Raimondo, CC '00, and John Krug, CC '01, in becoming one of the founding members of Columbia Catholic Athletes. In addition Ugolyn served as a Eucharistic Minister every Sunday at St. Paul's Cathedral.

"He never missed a single Mass in four years at Columbia," Schiller said.

Ugolyn was also an active member of the Kappa Delta Rho fraternity, serving as vice president, secretary, and webmaster. Living in the fraternity house on 114th Street, taking classes towards his economics major, working in the Dodge Physical Fitness Center, and participating in several community service groups, Ugolyn was a positive presence in and an active member of the Columbia community. Even though he was often busy refereeing intramural basketball games, sharing a meal at The Heights restaurant with peers, or working at the inner city youth basketball league he helped start for Harlem children, Ugolyn always had time to talk and joke around with friends.

"He was a presence," one friend told the Ridgefield Press. "No, he was his own presence. He was an inspiration to be around. He was the centerpiece."

Tyler is survived by his parents Victor and Dianne; his younger brother Trevor, a sophomore at Cornell; and his maternal and paternal grandparents, who live in Springfield, Mass.